Vince Ambrosia (CSUMB/SGE) organized a special session, “Improving Wildfire Observations Through Technology and Science Advancements,” and chaired a NASA-supported Fire Remote Sensing session at the International Fire Ecology Congress in San Diego, CA, Nov. 13-17. A thousand scientists and participants from 21 countries attended the conference that focused on the science and technology necessary for the management of wildland fires. Ambrosia and James Brass (SGE) also supported the NASA Earth Sciences/WRAP Project/Sub-Orbital Science booth at the Congress. NASA HQ Earth Science sponsored the Congress. (POV: Vince Ambrosia, 4-6565)

Paper by AATS Team published in Geophysical Research Letters is featured on NASA ARC website

The Ames Airborne Tracking Sunphotometer (AATS) team has received good publicity/notice recently. Their paper detailing the work done in 2004 to validate MODIS sensor data acquired by Aqua and Terra satellites over Monterey Bay was published in a recent issue of Geophysical Research Letters (“Assessment of MODIS-derived visible and near-IR aerosol optical properties and their spatial variability in the presence of mineral dust,” by J. Redemann, Q. Zhang, B. Schmid, P. B. Russell, J. M. Livingston, H. Jonsson, L. A. Remer, 33, L18814, doi:10.1029/2006GL026626). A summary of the paper and the team's work is posted on the NASA Ames website, as well ( http://www.nasa.gov/centers/ames/research/2006/modis.html ).

Jens Redemann (BAER Institute/SGG) has been invited to speak at the 2007 Radiation and Climate Gordon Research Conference, which will be held at Colby Sawyer College in New Hampshire during the week of July 29 to August 3, 2007. (POC: Jens Redemann, 4-6259)

Earth Science Division Participates in Leadership Training at HQ

Three Earth Science Division staff members, along with other participants in Ames's Strategic leadership Boot Camp II, were in Washington, D.C., Nov 14-17, to engage in discussion with several senior leaders in the NASA community. Steve Hipskind (Division Chief, SG) is a mentor to the project, which is designed and provided by the Ames Human Capital Office. Laura Iraci (SGG) and Steven Dunagan (SGE) are "campers" in this active learning program, which emphasizes skills of influence, effective communication, and strategic leadership.

Rennie Selkirk (BAER Institute/SGG) represented the Ticosonde team at the recent NASA Costa Rica Aura Validation Experiment (CR-AVE) Science Team meeting, held in Lanham-Seabrook, MD, Nov 14. Selkirk presented data acquired during the team's deployment to Costa Rica earlier this year. Ticosonde is an international collaborative campaign that used radiosondes to measure water vapor, ozone, temperature and winds for validating satellite and aircraft measurements of seasonal differences in the equatorial tropopause. The tropical upper troposphere and lower stratosphere (UTLS) region has a major impact on both the recovery of the ozone layer and on climate change.